Author: Rhys Gregory

Welsh volunteers were one of the first in the world to receive the Medicago Covid-19 vaccine (CoVLP) which has been found to be 75.3% effective against COVID-19 of any severity caused by the globally dominant Delta variant. The global Medicago vaccine study set to be the world’s first plant-derived ran across 11 sites in the UK, including Public Health Wales. From the 24,146 participants from across the world involved in the study, the highest number of 18-35-year old volunteers were from Swansea and the local areas. Efficacy was demonstrated against all variants seen in the study, including 75.3% efficacy against…

Transport for Wales (TfW) is urging customers to check before they travel over the coming days, as Storm Barra is due to impact on the rail network from Tuesday 7 December (0600). A revised timetable, to take account of necessary speed restrictions across Wales, is replacing the usual timetable until the end of service on Wednesday 8 December 2021.  Depending on how Storm Barra plays out, this is also subject to last minute changes. At this time, TfW has stopped short of warning customers against all but essential travel on their services.  The impact of Storm Barra is predicted to…

While residents of a specialist dementia Gwynedd care home may find getting to the local pub difficult, staff, businesses, and members of the community have gone the extra mile to help bring the pub to them. Meddyg Care’s Porthmadog home has installed new facilities for its occupants, recreating a traditional lounge bar and adding new garden facilities to allow for family gatherings to take place on the site’s grounds. The redevelopments come as the group, which has a second home in Criccieth, welcomes back families and loved ones to the home after an easing in visiting limitations. The home’s pub,…

A new litter picking hub has opened in Zero Waste Torfaen in Cwmbran which allows the general public, community groups and businesses to borrow litter picking equipment to clean up their local area. Zero Waste Torfaen offers locals all the equipment needed to carry out a safe clean-up and keep their community looking beautiful. This includes litter pickers, hi-vis vests, rubbish bags and hoops. The litter picking hubs have been set up by Keep Wales Tidy as part of their Caru Cymru initiative. Caru Cymru (a Welsh phrase meaning ‘Love Wales’) is an inclusive movement led by Keep Wales Tidy…

Hugely popular Cwmgwrach eatery, The Mine has officially opened its doors in Merthyr Tydfil — reminding the former industrial town of its heritage, more than 100 years after the closure of Cyfarthfa Ironworks. The Mine at CF47 and Castelany’s officially opened in Pontmorlais on Friday last week (03 December) — filled to the brim with authentic industrial décor, including metal bar gantries, wall art murals and a poignant memory wall. The transformative project has been made possible by an investment from Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council and its Meanwhile scheme — which supports new enterprises to open premises in vacant…

Storm Barra will lead to windy conditions over western UK early on Tuesday morning will soon spread eastwards across the warning area bringing severe gales to coastal areas, for a time before starting to ease during Tuesday evening. South to southeast winds will gust to 70-80 mph at times across exposed coastal areas and widely 50-60 mph inland. The winds, large coastal waves and high tides may lead to some coastal impacts. In addition to wind, showers and longer spells of rain will make for unpleasant and difficult travel conditions. What to expect There is a small chance that injuries…

A family from Caerphilly are donning their cycling helmets as they prepare to take on a festive bike ride to raise money for Brain Tumour Research, after their loved one died from the deadly disease. Father-of-three and keen cyclist Gwilym Llewellyn, 51, from Hengoed in Caerphilly, died on 16 May, just nine weeks after he was diagnosed with a grade 3 anaplastic astrocytoma. His widow, Cerian, 49, and three daughters, Shannon, 25, Jess, 19 and Liv, 14, will take on the 14-mile route from the village of Penpedairheol to Bedlinog and back on 15 December as part of Brain Tumour…

Today, Travelodge, the UK’s first budget hotel chain, has revealed the top 25 most interesting and bizarre requests that the company’s hotel teams in Wales have received over the last 12 months.  With a network of hotels stretching the length and breadth of Great Britain, including 26 in Wales, Travelodge welcomes millions of customers each year staying for a variety of reasons.         Detailed below are more fascinating requests from Wales to make the 2021 audit Can you arrange a champagne picnic at Snowdon Summit? Can you take me to visit the house of Gavin and Stacey please? Do you…

A new, independent vintage and gift shop has opened in the heart of Swansea’s Uplands. Pinball Vintage, at 49 The Grove, is run by local businessman Chris Byatt and aims to be the go-to place for affordable vintage clothing and great gifts that would be hard to find elsewhere. Emphasis is placed on sourcing items from local makers to minimise the shop’s carbon footprint. The shop stocks grade A, authentic vintage clothing from the 60s through to the 90s. All the clothing is individually hand-picked and ready to wear straight from the shop, with the emphasis on quality and uniqueness.…

Jack Savoretti, who’s amazing new single, The Way You Said Goodbye, has announced that he will be performing an exclusive North Wales show at Rhyl’s outdoor Events Arena on July 9th 2022. Savoretti will be supported by no one less than the Queen of British Soul, Beverley Knight, who is no stranger to performing on stage, scoring several Top 10 albums including the platinum selling Voice: The Best of Beverley Knight. The Soul singer’s most recent album ‘Soulsville’ released in 2016 went straight into the UK Top 10. More recently, Knight has featured on BBC and ITV News with her…